It is well known in the art to equip motor vehicles with sophisticated ambient and courtesy lighting in order to enhance customer satisfaction. This document relates to a new and improved courtesy lighting system and related method for lighting a door of a motor vehicle that achieves a number of benefits and advantages.
More specifically, the courtesy lighting system incorporates multiple lighting elements that are combined with a speaker and driven by means of a control module through a single network interface. That control module includes a controller configured to operate in (a) an ambient illumination mode, (b) a footwell illumination mode when the door is closed, (c) a puddle illumination mode when the door is open and (d) an open door warning mode when the door is open and the vehicle is moving.